This is not a list of drivers who could contend for the 2013 Sprint Cup Series title.

Beginning with top prospect Kyle Larson, it’s a list of drivers who could contend five years from now or even 10 or 15 years from now.

It’s a list of potential Cup stars for the future. Based on the latent they’ve shown in various racing series and their potential to attract sponsorship beyond whatever family money they might bring to the table, these are drivers who should keep moving quickly through the NASCAR ranks.

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2. Kyle Larson

Larson, 20, finished the 2012 season with 30 wins across a variety of racing series that included both stock cars and Sprint cars. Included were two wins in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, where he won the series championship.

An Earnhardt Ganassi Racing development driver with Japanese-American roots, Larson is part of NASCAR’s diversity program and has caught the eye of such drivers and team owners as Tony Stewart. His 2013 racing schedule is still being decided.

Why is he No. 1 on this list? He wins.

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3. Ty Dillon

Dillon, 20, the younger of Richard Childress’ two grandsons, is known for his speed and the feedback he is able to give his crew about his racecar. In his rookie truck season, he finished fourth in the standings with one win, three poles, 17 top-10s and he led 11 of 22 races.

He will return to the trucks in 2013 as well as run in select Nationwide Series races. Also don’t be surprised if he makes his Cup debut in 2013 as well.

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4. Ryan Blaney

Blaney, 19, won in just his third career Camping World Truck Series start, winning at Iowa Speedway in September. The son of NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Dave Blaney, Ryan has the ability to be both patient and fast. He had five top-10 finishes in nine truck starts as well as seven top-10s in 13 Nationwide races.

He signed with Penske Racing midway through last year and will drive select Nationwide races for Penske as well as a full truck season at Brad Keselowski Racing.

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5. James Buescher

Buescher, 22, won the Camping World Truck Series title in 2012 and posted eight top-10 finishes in 20 starts in the Nationwide Series for Turner Motorsports. In 2013, he will defend his title in the trucks, where he won a series-high four races last year, as well as run select Nationwide events.

Buescher has always had speed and 2012 was his breakout season as far as showing the ability to finish races strong and win.

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6. Austin Dillon

Dillon, 22, is the older of Childress’ two grandsons. The 2011 truck champion, Dillon finished third in the Nationwide Series as a rookie with two victories. He had 27 top-10 finishes and led 486 laps over the 33-race season.

While he might not have the raw speed of his brother, Dillon mixes confidence with great race management to produce consistently solid finishes. He has failed to finish only one Nationwide race in 44 starts.

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7. Corey LaJoie

LaJoie, 21, won five of the 14 races in the K&N Pro Series East on his way to a second-place finish in the standings.

The son of former Busch (now Nationwide) Series champion Randy LaJoie, Corey pretty much builds his own cars for his family-owned team.

With little funding, he is in danger of having his career stall, and that would be a shame as the edgy LaJoie has the outgoing personality (he probably got that from his father) that likely would attract fans and probably a few enemies along the way.

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8. Dylan Kwasniewski

Kwasniewski, 17, is the reigning K&N Pro Series West champion as he won three times and posted 12 top-fives in 15 events on the circuit.

Considered one of the top — if not the top — young driver on the West Coast, Kwasniewski is expected to drive for Turner Motorsports in the K&N Pro Series East in 2013.

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9. Parker Kligerman

Kligerman, 22, finished fifth in the Camping World Truck Series while driving for two different teams — Brad Keselowski Racing and Red Horse Racing. He won a race and had three runner-up finishes while with Red Horse and parlayed that into a full-time Nationwide ride at Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2013.

This year is pivotal for Kligerman to show that he has improved beyond his time at BKR, where the knock on him was that he would run better during a race than where he finished.

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10. Darrell Wallace Jr.

Wallace, 19, would be higher on this list if he had had a better season in 2012. After a two-win East season in 2010 and then a three-win year in 2011, when he finished second in the standings, he had only one win in 2012, crashed out of three races and wound up seventh in points.

But don’t count him out yet. In his four Nationwide races at Joe Gibbs Racing, he had three top-10 finishes and his other was a 12th at Dover. The top prospect of NASCAR's diversity program, Wallace will need to show that type of potential, and more, in what is expected to be a partial-season Nationwide opportunity again in 2013.

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11. Ross Kenseth

Kenseth, 19, the son of Cup driver Matt Kenseth, is about to enter his sophomore year at Clemson University. A Late Model racer, he scored two major victories in 2012 with wins in the All American 400 at Nashville and the Winchester (Ind.) 400.

Those two wins show that he has the ability to be patient and win short-track battles of attrition. He will compete in Late Model events again in 2013. With his father a Toyota driver and Toyota supporting several teams in both Nationwide and truck competition, there could be an opportunity for Ross to compete in NASCAR as well.